On Paytm Ownership Row, Delhi Court Gives Cops 3 Weeks To Complete Probe

Ashok Kumar Saxena, 71, in legal documents said he invested $27,500 two decades ago in Paytm parent One97 Communications but was never allotted any stock, Reuters reported this month.

A Delhi court on Monday has given police three weeks to conclude an investigation into claims from a former Paytm director who said he co-founded the digital payment platform but did not receive shares owed. Ashok Kumar Saxena, 71, in legal documents said he invested $27,500 two decades ago in Paytm parent One97 Communications but was never allotted any stock, Reuters reported this month. Paytm has said the claim amounts to harassment and cited it under "criminal proceedings" in the prospectus for its proposed $2.2 billion initial public offering (IPO). Saxena, a director from 2000 to 2004, has written to the market regulator urging it to stop Paytm from proceeding with the IPO. Corporate governance experts said the tussle could spark regulatory inquiries and complicate the approval of an IPO that could value Paytm, backed by Chinese e-commerce leader Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, at up to $25 billion.